Femtocells—building-based wireless access points interfaced with a wired broadband network—are generally deployed to improve indoor wireless coverage, and to offload a mobility radio access network (RAN) operated by a wireless service provider. Improved indoor coverage includes stronger signal and improved reception (e.g., voice, sound, or data), ease of session or call initiation, and session or call retention as well. Offloading a RAN reduces operational and transport costs for the service provider since a lesser number of end users utilizes over-the-air radio resources (e.g., radio frequency channels), which are typically limited. With the rapid increase in utilization of global communications networks and/or devices such as the Internet, intranets, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc., mobile data communications have been continually evolving due to increasing requirements of workforce mobility. Specifically, continuity of communication during handovers between femto and macro networks has gained significant importance.
When a mobile user travels between a femto and macro network, a handover is performed. For example, voice calls originated on a femtocell (e.g., in a home) can be transferred from the femtocell to a macro cell to provide the user with a continuous service experience while being mobile. Regardless of the foregoing advantages provided by femtocells, traditional operational designs of femto access points (APs) generally provide complex handovers when the signaling and bearer technologies in the femtocell and macro cells are different.
Typically, when different technologies (domains) are employed in the femtocell and macro cell, then the handover involves interworking between the different domains. Cross-domain interworking introduces additional call processing complexity, which requires additional resources and can reduce the quality of the user experience (e.g., service disruption, dropped calls). Additionally, cross-domain handovers may restrict the availability of services in different domains. Accordingly, such complex handovers can be time and/or resource consuming, cause delays during communication and result in degraded service quality. Real-time communication is delay sensitive and a delay during the handover can negatively impact performance and lead to user frustration.